True Genius
by Cid777
Summary: The last enemy that shall be defaeted is Death. Nothing would stop him on his way to true immortaly, to live in the minds of the living forever. Leaving an imprint on the world that would never vanish. To be an unforgotten Memory.
1. Desire

**Desire**

If you look for a traitor, you shouldn' t look for someone acting suspicious, because once you start, you will find an enormous amount of suspicious people near you.

It's the perfect people you should regard, for no one is perfect. Selflessly goes only so far until something is in the way of the desire of someone. And everyone has a Desire. Might it be money, power, beauty, being recognized or anything else. The only sure thing about aware beings is: Everyone has a Desire.

To desire something isn't wrong, of course. It' s our reason for being alive, our strive, after all. Without it, we would only exist for existence sake. Just doing what we have to do to exist, fullfilling our bodily needs, until death finally releases us. You can see it sometimes in widows that lost their partner, they lived so long for the happiness of their partner, that they aren't able to find a new reason to life.

A new Desire.

They only exist, not truly alife anymore. Only waiting for their death, living like ants. Doing the same routine day after day. Like people that gave up to be something special, to be normal, because they came to the conclusion that's all they were meant to be. All they ever could be. As if the world had nothing more to offer to them.

'How boring.', That was all he could think of at the prospect to have to spend the next two to three months at his relativs place while he walked down the dark corridors of Hogwarts . And he meant at, for his stay there certainly wouldn't be anything like living_ with _them.

'To do the same thing every day, limited to gossip, work and the dayly meals, while there was so much more in this world to pursue. More to explore than you ever could in a lifetime. What a waste of time!', he thoght disgusted.

He would never be anything like them. He had many desires after all. Never, never would he be a good for nothing simpleton like them. A freak? Well, that's decided by the perspective your looking from. But certainly not good for nothing! Yes, he would become great. How could a genius like him not? But greater heights than anyone else, that was what he would achive. His name would never be forgotten after his death! Not that he would let Death claim him anytime soon. First he had to find the reason for live, the world to explore, and to shape the world in his image. To become an everlasting memory, you had to do more than something great. You had to do before thought impossible things. And you had to do many of them, but for that even a genius needed time. More then the limitations of a human lifespan. But he had already found a way around that, his two year long research had paid off, a truly useful investment of time. Now he had all the time in the world to archive his long list of goals. And he would never be forgotten, the only way to reach true imortaly, living on in the heads of the living forever. All thanks to Kaa, he would always be greatfull to Kaa, without him he would never have been able to find an acceptable solution to his timeproblem. And while he wasn't an all too intelligent companion, he was a companion non the less. One that would forever be by his side.

"Fortunis Major"

"Again out this late, Mr. Potter? One day you will cause Gryffindor to loose the housecup with your nightly exploits. Invisibly Cloak or not."

While the portrait slowly opened, he couldn't help but wonder again who' s brilliant idea of using a portrait as guard it was. It couldn't fend off any attacker, and would need far too long to get any help, exept for even more useless portraits. What a brilliant Idea! The Wizarding world was truly overdue for a make over. And the house cup, of course. What once was a competition to raise the students motivation even higher, served today only as a reason for fights, to let the teachers bribe the students and of course to make a weaker studend even more of an outcast! Really, purpose failed!

Some traditions might be nice, yes, like christmas for example. They hurt no one, but keeping something as ridiculous as the portrait or the house cup, just because it was that way for a thousand years? What kind of argument was that?

While he slowly climbed up the stairs to his years dormitory, he could hear Ronald Weasleys snoring become gradually louder, when he entered it became a noise that should wake the others, as it should wake even animals who were oversleeping the winter.

Ronald Billius Weasley.

Best Friend?

He too, has desires. And many of them. Amusing is that he is expecting it to fall all of it in his lap. Too lazy to work in order to achieve them. Pitifull. That is what he was. In his future he will live with 30 years of age still at home at his mothers and wait for her to finish with the food. No women will want to live with someone as needy as him. Not able to advance in classes without Hermione to help him. As soon she stops assisting him he will fail in school and if she helps him through until the end? He will fail after it at any career he begins after Hogwarts anyway. Not being able to wake to be punctually to classes or always forgetting his homework. And he is supposed to be 16? I would call you a liar, if I didn't know better.

'Two people as differen't as us could never be best friends.' That was just impossible. And that's if you overlook the fact that he stabbed him in the back during fourth year.

'My parents trusted Pettigrew, a foolish mistake', he thought in rememberance, 'to trust someone weakwilled as one of them, when it came to your family? No, he was just a weak point for the enemy to exploit, like everyone that I would let come too close to me. It was a good thing after all that I hadn't conected with Sirius.'

It was laughable that they expected him to cry over Sirius death. He hadn't known the man! They lived in the same house for four weeks, nothing more. And Sirius proved that he was loyal to Dumbledore first, when there were no response to the letters sent to him during the summer. Sirius would have been just another weak point, with his blind trust to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was a capable man, he was not to be underestimated. To call him old and senile and to disregard him, would mean certain defeat. He wouldn't do the same mistake the deatheaters always did. A shame that Riddle doesn't think the same. To pull the better on both of them would be a challenge. But with the prophecy, there would be no sirious attempt to stop Riddle by Dumbledore. There seemed to be no other way as to fight both of them. Dumbledore was simply too set in the power of love the Prophecy talked about. A Prophecy showed just one of the more possible futures, not nessissary the right one. But Dumbledores naivity when it came to love and the goodnes of the humans was also one of his only weaknesses. One he had already exploitet during his time at Hogwarts, succesfully completing many of his experiments hidden in the Chamber of secrets. But he wouldn't be able to hold the image of Dumbledores most loyal supporter for much longer. He would have to be very careful in dealing with Dumbledore. A standoff between them was unavoidable. He had to make sure to gain an advantage beforehand. Dumbledore would never accept him to do what was simply nessassary.

He wasn't truly evil and diddn't enjoy torture like Riddle but he was ready to leave many morals behind in order to bring advancement. Changes always meant sacrifices after all. And everyone will have to make sure for himself that he isn't one of the sacrifices. Just like a giant tournament, just that there is much more on the line, because in the end it is survival of the fittest and the winner takes everything.

Placing Kaa safly in his trunk for the jorney to Surry, removing his clothes, he watched once through the window on the grounds. The grounds that would one day be his, among other things of course, and while he lay down a smile appeared on his face at his thoughts.

'For one da I will prove to the world,** there is no such power, higher than Harry Potter!**'


	2. Kansas City Shuffle

**Kansas City Shuffle**

On a rainy day a dark cloacked stranger could be seen, walking swiftly along Privet drive. Slowly, the dark clothed figure made his way through the many roads of surry. Suddenly, the stranger ducked in a small snickelway, where it begun to run until it reached another road. Turning around the corner it climbed in the black car that waited there for him. If someone would have watched from afar, they could have seen a short riffle in the air, only seconds after the stranger passed.

"Down", the dark stranger ordered as he ducked low in the footroom of the car. Both passengers remained for a few seconds in their crouched position, listening to hurried footsteps passing the car.

"Your babysitter, Harry?", asked the man on the driver seat.

"Their competence doesn't point to something more qualified, Dave", the now reveald black haird teen couldn't help but chuckle, as he answered. "We should have at least three hours, get us away here, before Dumbledores dog returns."

"Won't your guard alert Dumbledore immedietly after your disappearrance, with the Dementor mess last year?"

"Fletcher was almost hanged for his lapse while on guard, no one wants to be in his position until they really know that something happened to me. Peer pressure, in an organisation that is supposed to protect the wizarding world, how reassuring, right?"

"Proffessionell is something else. Not that the ministry stunt you pulled with the other students was any better."

"It certainly wasn't my wish for them to follow me, but I hadn't had the time to lose them."

"Should I be apaled that you actually planned to go alone without informing us beforehand?", Dave Greengrass patience was slowly running out with every second he didn't received an acceptable answer and it was affecting the tone in that he spoke.

Harrys eyes narrowed. No one spoke in such a tone with him, even if he was one of his closest supporters. He might not demand to be called lord or any such ridiculous titles, but he wouldn't be disrespected in such a way!

"Don't forget that I am the leader of our cause and that I might take your opinions in consideration but I make the final decisions, neither do I have to render an account to you!"

"Without me and my money you wouldn't be where you are now. And our allys are my allys, they don't even know about you!"

"That might be true. Without you I would be set back a decade maybe, but time doesn't matter to me anymore. I have all the time in the world now. You however don't have the least chance to succeed without me and thats why I call the shots."

Dave seemed not prepared for an answer like that, it seemed he hadn't believed Harry would succed in becoming ageless. Harry answered Daves surprise with a deep chuckle. Harry liked Dave, he really did. Dave was intelligent, shared his views and was ready to work hard for them. He would go even as far as calling him a friend and these, he could count on one hand. You simply can't amass many true friends when you planned on taking over a country, and when you planned even for world domination, well, you can do the math. Dave was able to find like-minded people to their cause in the ministry , Wizengamot and of course under the less known capable wizards that there where. In the end however, Harry couldn't allow his right hand to doubt his decisions in the least. At the wrong time it could cost them dearly, Harry simply had to stifle notions like that immediatly, even if Dave didn't like these in the least.

"Your right, it seems I have to accept that, I just thought you valued me more", Daves tone was grim, no doubt about that. But he was ready to accept defeat, if it was unavoidable. He alone wouldn't be able to acclompish their dreams. The Ideas Harry always had weren't replaceable like he was.

"Oh, I never said I didn' t valued your contribution to our cause, in fact I do value you most, exept for Susan maybe, but she is simply unique. Through I expected _you_ to know that _I _never make a wasted movement."

He emphased disappointment in the right moments in his answer and through that he made sure that Dave wouldn't question him again. These simple things ensured him Daves loyality instead of making him angry at the arrogance that Harrys answer would otherwise display.

"Of course, I shouldn't have lost my cool this fast, it was unbecoming, I appologise."

"Not for that my friend, not for that. There is much on the line after all."

For a while the two drove in silence, in between having small talk and having ordered a meal at a Drive-through. But soon Harry was back to business, their time this summer was limited after all.

"You couldn't make an appaerance at the ministry. It was crucial to expose Tom Riddles comeback without alerting the Headmaster to the fact that we are planning something or Tom to the fact that with us there is another opposing force to him. Toms early exposure would have had no meaning otherwise."

"I can't follow you here, could you explain to me why you needed to expose his reappearence this badly, if we aren't activly opposing him now either way?"

"If even you can't figure out what I'am planning it only proves that it will work," he couldn't help but laugh, that was a true masterpiece, "Dumbledore and Riddle both won't know what hit them. Dave, tell me, have you ever heard of a Kansas City Shuffle?"

"What is that supposed to be?"

"Ah, Dave, a Kansas City Shuffle happens if everyone looks left, but you walk right. Tell me, how do you think that sounds: Dave Greengrass, Minister of Magic."

"Häh? Im not the least wiser right now, how do you think that is supposed to work? "

"Why Dave, you have barely any opposition at all. The important question is: Who is able to stop you?

Fudge? Certainly not. Even he, as stupid as he is, knows that after the stunts he pulled last year, a reelection is as good as impossible.

Rufus Scrimgour is thus the only opponent, that we have. He's an Auror. In times like this people put hope in them and that is his only advantage. We have to turn that against him and you will elected without any opposition left."

"You forgot Amelia Bones. She overshadows Scrimgour at lengths, haven't you read any newspapers at all?"

"But Amelia hasn't shown any interest at becoming Minister, you have to understand that while she has the masses behind her, she doesn't have any financial backing. Amelia is a hardliner and competent to boot, for Tom she would be a catastrophe as Minister, should she try he would take her out with everything he has. It wouldn't be too hard since she hasn't the needed money for protection. She simply can't risk to leave Susan behind, she's a Hufflpuff and she promised her brother she would take care of his daughter when she bacame Susans Godmother. I already wrote Susan to make sure her Aunt wouldn't be able to forget that promise, you know , subtle hints here and there."

"How do we make sure we beat Scrimgour then? He has financial backing and espeacially, the people are sympathetic with him, what I can't claim."

"Nothing easier as that. The selections are October 31st. Until then three things must happen:

Scrimgour has to loose votes, that will happen on its own as Fudge will still be Minister. Tom will start attacks again, now that he is in the open. As result there will be death, and thus there needs to be someone responsible. In times like this the press will always start on the Aurors. No need to intervene on our part.

There is always an Hogsmade weekend at the beginning of October. We need to make sure Tom will start an attack there setting up your victory. Augustus already assured me that we won't have to worry about that point.

You and our allys will appear to protect the future of the wizarding world and I will put on a show of battling the greatest dark Lord of all time. We only need to hold out until the Aurors and Dumbledore appear. Tom will pull back by then, he's not ready for an confrontation like this and the press will paint us as the victors, the ones to appear first to protect the children of the wizarding world. A nice interview in that we tell them about our alliance and of our spy Augustus Rookwood that alerted us under the threat of loosing his life that the dark Lord planned such a devious attack. While the Aurors and Dumbledore will again be attacked for reacting too late, we will be praised as some kind of new hero organisation. After it you will lay so much in front, there will nothing be able to stop you anymore."

During the explanation Dave was confused, startled, impressed and so many other things but now , now he could only laugh. That was one of the ideas only the mind of Harry Potter could think off.

"So, that's a Kansas City Shuffle? A plan as insane as that simply has to work!"

"You shouldn't have doubted me in the first place. I think it's time for you to bring me 'home', we wouldn't want my guard to get too nervous and alert Dumbledore, such a little problem would bring our masterplan to fall and we don't want that, right?"

Author's Note:

I hope the dialog was all right, but that is my first try at writing. I found it hard to switch between dialog and the 3rd person view, but I didn't want the Dialog complete in one piece, it's long enough as it is. Texas City Shuffle is from the movie Lucky Number Sleven, of course. Best Movie that is out there, the monologues are just awesome.

I don't own Harry Potter, Lucky number sleven or anything simliar to anythig else and I don't make money with that story, who would pay for that?


	3. Augustus Rookwood

**Augustus Rookwood**

At first Harry thought his beginning of school would mean a new better life for him, but he had to accept that it wouldn't be as nice as in the TV-shows he watched at the Dursleys. In the beginning, everything was great. Harry was always praised by his teachers, being the best in every subject, even making friends seemed possible. But after a while his classmates grew tired of being outclassed by Harry, it didn't take long and all notions of forming friendships were destroyed.

Harry became a loner and with that the perfect target to be picked on. After a while, the teachers couldn't help but figure, that he as the only constant, was the one at fault. School became like living at the Dursleys, keeping the had low and trying not to be noticed except for in the occasional trouble with his classmates. All the while cementing his status as a troublemaker in the minds of the people of the Privet Drive neighborhood, like the Dursleys always claimed him to be.

Two years later however Harry delightet in going to school again, after one of his teachers was caught in an accident and had to be subtituted by a new one. The new teacher, Mr. Rookwood, to Harry, was awesome. Mr. Rookwood always let him explain his side of the story, when he was in trouble again and gave him advanced lessons, when he was bored with the current material. They were already at calculating circles in math. Mr. Rookwood and he even made together lunch during breaks. They were always on a field of grass sorrounded by some trees, where Harry always feeled really content, but best of all, Harry felt appreciated for the first time of his life. He never was so happy.

It took a down turn when he was one day running from his classmates again. One moment he was just running and the other he appeared on the rooftop. He couldn't for his life explain how that happened and thus he couldn't be angry in the slightest for the fact that Mr. Rookwood gave him detention without letting Harry explaining himself. Harry feared he would only be a normal student to Mr. Rookwood from now on. He desperately wanted that feeling he had when Mr. Rookwood focused his whole attention on Harry. It was so much better then the pain Harry felt when he received his relatives hateful glares and coments that he was just a useless freak. Harry craved this feeling of being special and he wanted it in spades.

"Come, follow me Harry." Mr. Rookwood left the room in that Harry waited as fast as he entered, Harry hot on his heels. Harry only followed startled as they left the schoolbuilding for the place where they usual had lunch. Mr. Rookwood sat himself on the ground and gestured for Harry to do the same.

"Harry, please would you tell me what would happen if you would take a device powered by electricy in the middle ages and show it to the people their?"

"They would burn me alive, obviously."

"Yes they would, because they do not understand what happened, they would call it off as magic."

Harry watched on in shock as Mr. Rookwood pulled a small stick out of his sleeve, waved it and as a result some small leaves lifted from the ground where they hovered for a few moments.

"That's impossible,"stuttered Harry as answer to the for him incredible display.

"As you see with your very own eyes it is possible. Just as your galant escape this morning. Was that really the only thing that ever happened around you which you couldn't explain?," amusement at Harrys disbelieve was evident in his voice.

Harry simply couldn't comprehend that something unreasonable as magic could exist. 'Through it would explain suddenly turning up on the roof, or the thing in the zoo, _somehow, maybe_.' He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

"I talked to a snake in the zoo once, would that fit?"

"That's definetly surprising since your parents both hadn't had that ability, which is normaly received through blood , but possible, yes." For Augustus Rookwood that definetely was a surprise and something worth looking into in the future.

Harry however still had some doubts about this magic thing.

"So while my parents couldn't talk to snakes, they were able to do magic. Isn't there some trick to safe you in case of a carcrash then?"

"So they told you, your parents died in a carcrash, but that isn't true, they were murdered. You have to understand, there are not only good wizards like their are normal bad people. Or bad "muggle" as we would call them. There is a whole different world of our people, witches and wizards, with our own government, and our own conflicts."

Harry listened attentive as Mr. Rookwood explained about the wizarding world, its conflicts and of course about the night his parents died. It was somehow soothing to know that his parents loved him enough to be ready to even die protecting him.

"That's why you're here, cause I'm some kind of hero in this world?"

"No certainly not. I won't lie to you, while I didn't shared your parents murders view completely, I did fought on his side and I would have disposed of them had they stood in my way. The world as it is now, magical and muggle, will be destroyed if there is no change in the immediate future, that's why I followed him and Grindelwald before him. I simply choose what I thought the lesser of two evils. I wasn't happy about it but I didn't regret it neither. I'm here, because despite us fighting in different fractions, you're mother and I worked together and where close friends at our work. It might sound sad, but we shared different views, that's all there is to it."

"I thought I'm placed here, cause I'm safe here from the dark lords followers, how are you here then and why don't you intend to kill me?"

"You just said it yourselve, I don't intend to hurt you. The shield your mother created is an incredible feat of magic, Dumbledore might say it was coincidence, but I know better. Lilys main research were runes and wards, she definetely planed this in case they were ever attacked so you would be protected. A one year old certainly didn't brought down the dark lord, to believe that is just foolish, so for me there is no reason to take revenge on you, neither do I feel angry when I think about his death."

"That's a lot to take in for a day."

"It is, you should find a place where you can think about it, we will see each other tomorrow in school and if you want we could even visit your parents graves after school is out."

Harry left with many thougts that day, but the one who bothered him the most was that of all friends of his parents, it was one of their enemys to look after him.

The graves of his parents were truly a beautiful sight and seemed well cared for. Augustus, as Harry called him now, who had paid for a bouqet of flowers for Harry to lay down, stood a bit away to give Harry some space. Harry actually didn't know what he was supposed to do, he wasn't a believer of religion but thought he could at least honour their sacrifices with some of his time. It was the least he could do.

While he remained kneeled in front of the graves he could hear a noise in the grass near him. When he looked in the noises direction, he was able to spot a small white and green snake, slowly approaching him. Augustus watched in interest how Harry stretched out his hand, the snake curiously tasting it with it tongue. Soon the snake slithered up Harrys forearm were it made itself easily comfortable.

"Have you ever heard of a snake like this? Is it magical?"

"Except for Runspoors and Basilisks there are no known magical Snakes as far as I know. But I have heard of one like this in a japanese muggle legend, they are supposed to never die of old age somehow. It's said to be a blessing to only see one of them. I don't put much in signs normally but I also don't believe in coincience, to meet a snake like that in a place like this, there might be more to it."

'Hmm, so you never die? Maybe I will be able to discover your secret if there's actually something to it?' Harry thought while he stood up and made his way to Augustus. Finding out about the wizarding world and visiting his parents graves definetely felt like a new beginning.

"Soon Mr. March will be back and I will have to be back to my work, until then I will tell you a bit about our world. I will leave you some reading material and my owl will show up every now and then. I might even visit you sometimes."

Shortly before they disapeard, Harry looked once more on the graves of his parents, reading it._ The last enemy that shall be defeated is death_. 'Yes for a new beginning,' thought Harry, 'that would be a worthy goal.'

Something like that, would make him special.

Author note:

Finally finished, for the second time, after the fucking laptop just went out, while it saved, even everything I saved beforehand vanished.I hope this chapter shows why Harry is so different to canon. Harry is around eight in this chapter. I pulled the Boa incident earlier so it fits with the whole Rookwood as a mentor kind of thing. Rookwood is an unspeakable and leaves his imprint on Harys character, like being ruthless and the science thing. Before Hogwarts he is the only one Harry can look up to after all.

To **J or The Blind **and **Carnacki23: **I don't know how that happened. I just watched the movie two month ago the last time. How embrassing. Thanks for pointing that out.

To **Madd Girl: **There will be problems with the plan. Harry won't get the minister title for Dave handed to him on a silver platter. I just never understood why Dumbledore didn't try to use the political situation to place someone of his people in power, when some no name like Scrimgour was able to get the position and Kingsley became Minister just hours after the battle.


	4. A new world

**A new World**

The atmosphere in the great hall during the term beginning feast wasn't nearly as positive as in the previous years. The normaly happy chipper of students, exchanging experiences from during the holidays, was heavily subdued. The dark Lord had, only shortly after his exposure, began to spread chaos and fear through the wizarding world again. As if his absence never happened, his followers attacked with vigour, knowing their leader used this fear to pressure others into joining their cause. While there wasn't any student lost so far, some had already to mourn victims among their family. The teachers triying to set an example and to lighten the mood, seemed not to be bothered by the happenings. But they knew that no smile or any other good meant gesture would be able to bring solace to these students. Among the students sat Harry Potter, contemplating how he would be able to sway as many students as possible on his side. For his vision of the future of the wizarding world, he had to first change it's whole way of thinking, beginning with the students of Hogwarts, whose mindset was still impressionable. It was time that the ruling of the old would end and that the young took over. With fresh ideas to better the world, it was after all them who would have to live in it the coming decades, not the old man and woman who wanted to force there supposed _wisdom _on to the next generation, proclaiming they simply knew better. No, it was time for them to take their future in their own hands and to form the world into the shape that they wanted it to be. That's what Harry Potter would stand for, as a voice for the youth, someone stepping up for their needs.

For Harry, Neville Longbottom was one of the most amazing phenomens he had seen in his life. It was incredible what kind of progress he made in the DA last year, an improvement from barely being able to complete class assignements to being one of the more succesful ones. But when he said he always used his fathers wand it was an almost shocking revelation to Harry. While it explained his drastic improvement, that he first had to bend the wand to his will, the long timeframe it used showed the wand wasn't just a poor fit, it was one of the worst possible. Harry could have pommeled Augusta Longbottom in the ground when he found out. Comparing him always to his father while raising him, deeming him lacking again and again, pushing him even more into being a recluse, instead of helping him gain confidence. If Frank and Alice where dead, they would roll in their graves. No wonder that Neville always was a failure, but in the DA Harry could see it in his eyes, there was a thirst to prove himself. Once Harry complimented him, Neville didn't rest on it. He tried even harder. Harry understood why this was. Neville hadn't had any aknowledgement from his family, the ones who should have stood by him no matter what. He was so grateful, he felt that to not become even better, would mean letting Harry down and he didn't want to disappoint the only person ever truly believing in him. Their upbringing was frighteningly famliar, Neville just never had anyone like Rookwood, no one to trust his troubles to. He was what Harry would have been without any nurturing.

Soon in the year Harry noticed he wasn't the only one walking the Hogwarts corridors at night. It seemed Neville couldn't find sleep at nights, leaving his bed and just appearing tired to breakfeast. Curious to what Neville was up to Harry took the Marauders Map, slipped under his invisibly cloack and found him in one of the countless unused rooms housed by Hogwarts. What he watched made everything what Harry thought about Nevilles potential seem like a joke. Neville just fired spell after spell for hours on end. Harry did expect Neville to make a huge amount of progress in using magic with his new wand, but what he saw was almost ridiculous. For a 16-year old to possess this much raw power, would Harry be a lesser man, he would have been envious. If Harrys magic was a river, Nevilles was a raging sea.

But Harry saw it as a chance and that's why he had followed Neville once again tonight, waiting for Neville to grow tired, so it would be easier to nudge Neville in the right decisions. He would take Neville under his wing, shaping him, making him one of the greatest wizards of this century. Securing Neville and this power as an ally was a benefit too, of course. But if Augustus taught him one thing, it was that wasting potential, especially some of this amount, was the worst of crimes. Slowly opening the door, Harry slipped in the room, a shield errected before him for protection against the strayspells flowing through the room.

"Leaving out some pent up energy Neville?", Harry asked Neville over his shouts of casting spells.

Neville whipped around fast, wand now pointed on Harry. For a short time Harry could see a burning hate in his eyes, until Neville recognized who Harry was, he had already shot the first spell, which was harmless absorbed by Harrys shield. Nevilles eyes widened as he recognized Harry and he immedietely took his wand down.

"Sorry Harry, I was just..."

"Don't worry, no harm done,"Harry interrupted Nevilles stutter. It was amazing how fast Neville changed back to his unsure self. Harry would need to bring out the Neville he watched when Neville was alone. With that seemingly unstopable drive from just moments beforehand.

"You seem angry somehow, something the matter?"

"It's nothing important, I don't want to trouble you."

"You won't trouble me," Harry reasured the defeated sounding Neville, throwing an arm around him and guiding him to a table to sit upon, "everyone needs someone to listen once in a time, someone to trust. I know you don't have any close friends and we weren't this close before either, but I would like to change that. You can't just eat everything up. If you want to talk about something, anything, just let it out. I won't judge you and no word will leave this room. You can trust me with everything, you know this right?"

During Harrys words Neville was slowly convinced. On his probably forever slightly chubby face forming a small smile. Neville was grateful, never had anyone taken any time for him, to ask how he felt. Somehow, Harry was able to make him feel like he wasn't just a burden.

"It's just, since we were in the ministry and met Bellatrix, I've got this dreams, that don't allow me to sleep. I've had dreams about her before, when I was younger and grandma told me what happened to my parents, when we visited them for the first time. They became less and less and after time didn't bothered me much anymore. But now, the dreams are different. My parents or I myself aren't the victims anymore, Bellatrix is. Since she mocked my parents in the DoM, I feel real hate towards her. And over the summer it became only worse, I dream myself torturing her, killing her and to desecrate her corpse and I enjoy it. But after a while I come to myself again and I feel horrible. The time frames become longer and longer and my hate grows with every victim I read about in the prophet. I don't know what to do anymore. What if I become just like her, a monster? What would my parents think of me?"

Neville was a mess. Nothing important? He was close to a breakdown. While he talked, tears began to run down his face and with every word his body was shaking more and more. Harry took Neville in his arms and Neville gripped him as if Harry was the only thing keeping him in this world.

"Don't be afraid,"Harry tried to calm him, "the fact it becomes worse when you read about victims in the newspaper shows that the only thing you want is justice. Justice that your parents, all her other victims and you deserve. It would be wrong for you not to hate her. She tortures and murders for fun, as a way to kill time, there isn't a punishment too hard for her. Your just desperate, because the ministry isn't able to stop her finally, because others have to share the same fate as your parents. You only want to bring her to justice with your own hands, do you?"

Calmed down, Neville let go of Harry again and looked embrassed to the floor.

"You don't need to be embrassed, Neville. Everyone needs something like this from time to time. Some react more controlled, some less. If you want to talk sometime again you only have to ask."

Neville just nodded in answer. He felt like a huge weight was taken from his shoulder.

"But I have to say, if you met her ever, don't try to fight her, she would just kill you in no time."

"What? What should I do? Simply let her go or better watch her while she kills people around me? And besides, I've become stronger, I won't be defeated so easily!"

His voice was indignant. He couldn't understand how Harry of all people could say such a thing. His thoughts however were shortlived, when Harry pulled him up and pressed him in the nearby wall. Fixing Neville with his underarm at Nevils throat, Harry moved his mouth to Nevills ear.

"You? Defeating Bellatrix Lestrange? You wanna make me laugh? The only reason why you lived longer than five minutes in the DoM was because I held the prophecy behind my back for a short time and they didn't know who had it. They had gone easy on us for fear they would destroy it otherwise. With the things you learned last year you might come through classes, but defeating Bellatrix Lestrange is far out of your reach. Your parents lost to her and they were some of the ministrys best Aurors. So stop deluding yourself that you have the needed skills to even make her sweat. Do you understand?"

Neville was terrified, he didn't knew this forceful and aggressive Harry.

"But what do I do then?"

"I've allied myself with some people and we have some things going on. We could always need some strong people on our side that help us archieving our goals. If you joined us, it would be enough reason to invest my time in making you stronger."

"Allies? But what's with Dumbledore?"

"Just think about the fact that Dumbledore has influenced the wizarding world for a long time. He helds many positions and many people ask him for advice, but he still hasn't accomplished much, has he? He has failed in making the wizarding world to a better place. The Ministry is a joke. While some follow the dark Lord out of free will, others do so because the goverment pushes them in his direction. There needs to be change. Dumbledore couldn't bring it, now it is ours to try. Whatever may happen from now on, the only thing about that we can be sure is that the world as we know it will come to an end. Out of it a new world will be born and everyone in this world will have to fight for a place in this world. We could fight together for a place on top of these new world. So we can shape it after our image. A world with true justice and not the joke the current ministry claims it to be. I am the only one who will give you the power you need. Dumbledore will never give it to you, judging your revenge as wrong. It's your decision, will you stay the way you are, an average wizard or join me in making this place better and become someone noteworthy, someone your parents could be proud of?"

Harry turned around and began to leave,"even if you decide against it, we will stay friends, but I would be pleased to have someone like you watch my back."

After Harry left the room, Neville contemplated things. It seemed to Harry was more than anyone thought. Neville knew Harry was right. The way his OWLs turned out he hadn't even any chance to join the auror academy and Dumbledore would never notice someone like him. The question, how Dumbledore would react to his goal wasn't even important. Was that what he wanted? Living an average life? No! Harry believed that he could be useful. Harry was ready to invest the needed time in him. He would have to grasp this chance. Just because his Gran supported Dumbledores politics to the core didn't mean he had to do the same. He would become his own person, not a copy of his parents. While he loved them very much and respected them for fighting in the Order of the Phoenix, he had to walk his own path. And for it, he would become a great wizard.

Decision made, he hurried after Harry. Following the way to the Gryffindor common room, Harrys back came soon in his gaze, so he shouted after him, "Harry, wait!".

While slowly walking back to bed, Harry couldn't surpress the grin that formed on his face, when Nevilles hurried footsteps reached his ears. Turning around after his shout, he waited for Neville to reach him.

"I thought about what you said and I would like to take you up on that offer."

"Thatt's great Neville! We've got much work to do, you wish to defeat the dark Lords propably strongest supporter after all. We will met on saturday, in Myrtles bathroom, be there at one in the afternoon. But for now we should get some sleep, tomorrow are classes, after all."

While Neville walked alongside him quietly, Harry was already contemplaiting how long he would need to make Neville in the invaluable asset he could be. Neville would be a powerhouse, the perfect supplement to Harry, whose limitation where his just slightly above average magical reserves. Only two weeks into term and he had already Neville on his side. But there was still much to do, before he could expose his own side to this war or they would be destroyed by Tom Riddles superiors forces.

Authors note:

Hello guys,

as you surely have noticed, there was a large timeskip now, but I really didn't felt like writing a chapter that followed canon completely with some of Harry thoughts as the only difference, so I jumped just directly forward. Next chapter will take place in the chamber of secrets and will show a bit about how I think a battle with magic should be.

To **JohnJohn: **that will be explained during the story when the time comes. And as said above, Harry isn't all that powerfull in the story when it comes to his amount of magic, he will use magic effective instead and of that with variety in order to surprise his enemys.

To **Madd Girl: **He won't be sacrificed, I think you got that wrong somehow.

Thanks for all the reviews and hopefully bye until next time.


	5. Harry Potters Chamber of Secrets

**Harry Potters Chamber of Secrets**

"You're early Neville, that's good, I hate wasting time by waiting," Harry greeted Neville when he entered Myrtles bathroom. Neville slurred a barely audible hello in answer.

"We've got to work on that, if people are supposed to respect you, you have to seem as if you respect yourself as well. Now to open the place you're going to spend much of your time over the next year."

Neville watched as Harry walked to the sinks in the middle of the room and took out a strange looking something. Holding it to his mouth, Harry let out a short hiss, the sinks suddenly started to move.

"This Muggle device is able to record sound and play it again. With it you will be able to open this place without me. I trust you to not let it fall out of your hands, it would spell trouble for me if the wrong person were to enter here. Now, follow me."

Watching Harry go down the now exposed stairs Neville was quick to follow.

"I thought Muggle things don't work here at Hogwarts?"

"What you hold there is one of my first accomplishments, it wasn't really hard through, to find out why electricity doesn't work around places like Hogwarts and to create a field of runes that created a shield blocking the magic from it."

Soon they entered a hall like room, easily as high as the Great Hall. Neville could see strange devices everywhere, it all seemed a bit like a lab. Everything had it's very own order and seemed extremely clean. In the far corner to the left Neville could spot a terrarium with a small white and green snake in it.

"This my friend, is Harry Potters Chamber of Secrets! Well, actually Salazar Slytherin's, but after all the remodelling I did and with the fact in mind that his Basilisk is dead now, my name seems much more fitting. My small friend in the corner over there would be Kaa, you can say hello to him later, but he isn't much of an attentive guy. That's how snakes are I guess, only interested in food and sleep. A bit like Ronald, if I think about it, but he had his uses and for that he earned his keep here, at least. I split the beforehand hall in many smaller ones, that's why the roof is so high. Let's succeed in the training room, you can explore the place later."

Walking through a couple of doors the duo finally reached a room reigned by absolute chaos. Everywhere were stones, some old trees and the strangest of things.

"If you wonder where the duelling pit is, there is none. During battle you have to check your surroundings and use them to your benefits. I doubt you will fight Bellatrix in a tournament, after all."

Positioning himself some distance away from Neville, Harry held his wand simply to his side."Attack me!" Harry ordered.

Neville threw a stunner at first which Harry easily blocked. Harry, not taking his shield down, just stood there, watching how spell after spell was absorbed. Neville, soon paused, not knowing what to do as long Harry showed no intent to attack himself.

"And you wanted to challenge Bellatrix Lestrange of all people? You don't even know how to overcome my shield. You first have to understand the basic working of magic in order to become a capable fighter. A shield like this absorbs almost all spells made out of pure magical energy, but it isn't able to stop things like stones, things that have a solid form. If you fling something at your opponent, he will be forced to take his shield down and erect a solid shield himself. While a solid shield, made of earth for example, might be able to block all kinds of spells from reaching you, it can also be effected by magic. An explosive natured curse however would turn your shield in dangerous shrapnel flying in your direction. Depending in how fast you were able to build the shield, the nearer or farther away it is of you, but it would be advisable to form it as far away from you as possible and as close as necessary. Now attack me with something solid."

Not having studied much magic other then what was required for classes, Neville's choices were slim. He really wasn't ready to face any Deatheater. It would have been a disaster, had he tried to challenge someone like Bellatrix. Having decided on a way of attack, he raised his wand and conjured a crude looking knife flowing in Harry's direction. Finally Harry's shield vanished. In answer Harry waved his wand and transfigured a small pebble from the ground into a crow. Using the transformation coupled with the imperious curse made it possible for Harry to easily control it's movements. The stronger the mind of a being, the harder it was to control it with the curse. The bird Harry transformed however had no mind, it wasn't really alive even, it just seemed so. In the end no magic was able to create real life with a soul, so there was not the slightest resistance when Harry forced it in the way of the knife.

"As you've seen you can use almost everything as a shield. Only knowing a wide area of magic can help you defeat your enemy. You have to surprise him, defend yourself, attack him and everything at the same time. Realize your opponents battle plan and devise your own to pull the better on them, holding the concentration you need for casting all the time, for he won't give you any time for breathing at all. I want you to amass spells you find useful in the library, we will build upon this basic with spells I teach you that favour your huge amount of power."

"You think I have that much power? I always thought I was pretty average."

"You couldn't be farther from the truth, the only ones with more power than you in this school are Dumbledore and maybe Flitwick. And your power will still grow until you turn around 21. For the next ground rule we have to make out the difference between visible spells and invisible. Tell me how would you block an invisible spell? One you can't see?

"I have no idea."

"And you don't have to. Transfiguration is invisible, and will have no effect on you, out of the same reason you would never be able to levitate a magical being. The reason is the same why you can't simply stun a dragon or troll. There resistant hide doesn't really exist, it's actually just a permanent shield around the body, weakest at the eyes, that all magical beings possess. That's why the Deatheaters were able to levitate the muggles at the world cup, they don't have this shield. While our shields protect us from the invisible spells, the visible ones, becoming visible through the pointed surface they have, are able to pierce our shields, thus they are also called piercing spells in some texts. You'll have two weeks for your research in the library, than we will begin in earnest. You can practice in here as much as you want."

It was during transfiguration class that Neville insinuate the first chance for Harry to show that he was more than the silent boy he was until now. A chance to show his peers that he wasn't simply just the chosen one the newspapers proclaimed him to be, but someone intelligent, someone to really look up to. It was just a beginning of course, but Rome wasn't build in a single day either. He would slowly have to change his image from being Dumbledore's poster boy to an individual that held promise in his very own way. So when Neville pulled the attention of the whole transfiguration class on them, Harry decided to indulge the class of his thoughts how transfiguration really worked.

"You need to concentrate more Neville or you will never be able to succeed."

"I'm trying here Harry, I really am!" Neville shouted in frustration trying one more time, only succeeding in blasting his small statue of a hawk into pieces. The class was now solely watching them, including a fuming Minerva McGonagall. So Harry thought about hitting two birds with the same stone. Taking the professors attention off Neville and polishing up his own image.

"Everything you do is pumping more power in your statue, which resulted in it's destruction. You're under the common misconception of transfiguration being an power consuming subject. That's wrong, it's about control, as long as you stay in normal sizes. The larger the size, the more power you need and more power is harder to control. You have to get a feeling for how much control you need just once, and you can guess from there, it's simply trial and error at first. Next you have to plan what you're actually doing. Transfiguration can be split in two categories. The first is to manipulate the essence, in this case, you want to change lead to copper. Both are metals, which makes it rather easy, the change you have to do is rather small. To help you, there is a list of the different materials you're expected to transfigure during class this year in the book at the last pages. It's also called temporary transformation as it turns back as soon the magic wears of. You can also determine the length of the change but that is more complicated and not important right now. Conjuration too falls under it, it's transfiguration from air, which is one of the hardest things, because the beginning material is a gas and with that it's very hard to grasp an understanding of it."

And as if it were nothing he lifted his wand and the former dark silver statue gained a dark red colour.

"Now to the second part, the shape. That is permanent transfiguration, as it will stay in the form you bring it without magic, since you make no change to the matter itself. As long as you stay with the same quantity there shouldn't be any problem at all. You have to imagine the result you want, see its surface in your mind and then change it. Different materials have almost no effect on how difficult the change is. If you truly mastered it once for a certain size, you should be able to do every shape you want. But you have to stay with the same quantity always or you have to conjure something to add, making it much harder, as you have to control a bigger mass of magic, again."

Minerva watched perplexed, as one of the most average students she ever had, started to manipulate the copper in front of him, in slow-motion, to different forms like the founders crests or what she thought to be famous Muggle buildings in miniature forms.

"That's quite the accomplishment Mr. Potter. Would you be so kind as to explain to me why you aren't always able to show this skill in class."

"Not to disrespect you Professor, but all the rules you teach here, most of them are redundant. The field of Transfiguration really needs a make over. And it isn't really challenging here, so I'm just sitting off the required time here. I got an O during the OWLs and I will get one in the NEWTs. I was told I'm already on the level of a master, so in the end, I simply see no reason to."

Actually, Minerva wanted to throttle the boy in front of her for his arrogance, but she couldn't help but to agree with him. The wonder she had, when she received her students OWL results, about his O vanished immediately. The control he just showed, was actually copied by only the best of masters in the field. Even Albus, a well known genius in the field, wasn't able to do a feat like this at such a young age. And she would give respect were respect was due.

"Fifty points to Gryffindor for a short but exact summary of what transfiguration is and another fifty for the probably most amazing feat of transfiguration a Hogwarts student ever accomplished. Don't waste this talent Mr. Potter. "

Harry had every intention of using it to it's fullest. He just doubted she would approve of what he would do with it.

Author notes:

The first chapter looked upon by a beta. Special thanks for this go to **holly-whyte **for her fast response. Hopefully it will improve my writing and your enjoyment at reading it.

I don't own Harry Potter.


	6. Nurmengard

**Nurmengard**

Avada Kedavra. The killing curse. There was nothing special about it. Produced through pure hate and disregard of life. It killed even the very essence of magic in it's target, including every shield in it's path. Harry had studied the effects of the killing curse with meticulous precision in order to bring light to the night of his parents death. He knew exactly how he survived, but that was the problem, he didn't. The killing curse never touched him that night, if it would have, Harry would had died there that night. He also knew how he survived. His mother had everything planed out this evening. The Rune-array she used was probably prepared months beforehand. She must have worked furiously on the array, it's complexity was amazing. Today Runes' only real use where for wards, forgotten the times where runes were the only way of using magic, before wands. Runes were able to do anything a wand could do. It must have been a tedious work to find all the ones she needed and to create the missing ones. They were created for the sole purpose of using magic, gradually the people gave them words as a meaning and the runes turned into whole languages. His mother was just one of a few who saw the true worth of them and tried to use them to her advantage.

In order to defeat any spell the Dark Lord would throw at her son she needed to create a shield that would block even the Avada Kedavra. And she had the necessary resources at hand.

To defeat even the pure hate of the killing curse only one thing could be used, the pure love of a parent to their child. While James stalled the dark Lord, Lily prepared everything for Harry's survival. Her death set the runes in motion, whose purpose was to create a shield from the power of her sacrifice that would counter everything the dark Lord could throw at her son too fast for the dark Lord to react to. It worked splendidly. The only problem for Harry was, that the answer to his survival brought up many more questions. How did he get the scar on his forehead? Harry learned enough during his tempering with his own soul, to feel what this scar was, but he couldn't be sure the dark Lord was it's origin. Or what his purpose was. And more importantly the question of how the dark Lord survived the killing curse, for he was hit with it. The dark Lord's claims of immortality seem to be true, he must really have gone farther than anyone else before to achieving it. Harry however knew that all things he did to defeat death wouldn't save himself from being killed in battle, so how did Tom Riddle archive this spectacular feat?

To find an answer to that question would demand a thorough study of the field of Dark Magic. For which Harry would need time, time which Harry didn't have for once in his life. It wouldn't do to look through the field of Dark Magic for years and researching every every rumoured way to immortality; there were many of them. Almost every Dark Lord that made a name for himself through the ages tried to create one. By the time Harry got through all of them, Tom Riddle would already rule Wizarding Britain and be untouchable. A better way would be to find someone who already possessed this kind of knowledge. If you wanted to know something that no one else knows of, your first option would be Albus Dumbledore, of course. But Dumbledore wasn't at the school often, most of the time trying to win over supporters for the fight against Tom Riddle. And the meetings he wanted to have with Harry seemed to be planned later in the year. Probably too late. If Dumbledore knew how to defeat Tom, he wouldn't share it with Harry any time soon. Now where to find a wizard whose knowledge equalled that of a Dark Lord? Another Dark Lord, so to speak?

And that's why Harry Potter currently stood on an island in the middle of the north sea, an island under the control of the German Ministry of Magic, gazing at the old fortress Nurmengard. Once it housed the defiers of Gellert Grindelwald's rule. Now it housed Gellert Grindelwald himself, along with a number of other criminals, all waiting for death. Then Nurmengard would be closed as well. The cost to maintain a prison like this was much too high to effort for a broke Ministry like the German one. While Muggle Germany was able to recuperate from their war, the magical was not. The ICW hadn't let Wizarding Germany gain any resemblance of their former state. Now the Ministry resembled more an alliance of the few still powerful pureblood families enforcing their will on their country in order to take it's money for themselves. The country was about to fall apart, the rising population of werewolves only one of their problems. Luckily the lack of money meant that there were only five wardens to cater after the needs of the prisoners, or to protect it from invaders.

"You seem troubled, Sue."

Susan indeed was troubled. She joined Harry because she wanted to bring justice, not to break out former Dark Lords.

"We're going to break one of the most feared men of the world out of prison, I would be worried if I wasn't troubled, Harry."

"You know we need him. We talked about that, if you aren't sure about it you should stay behind or you will only endanger us."

"No, there's no problem, I just feel a bit uneasy."

To feel uneasy was to be expected, they were going to meet a man who had become a monster, regardless of how old and powerless he might seem in his cell.

"Sue, Augustus, Dave. It's time to move." And thus four hooded strangers begun their assault on one of the once most secure prisons of the world.

Having entered the complex undetected due to the information gained by Rookwood when he visited a week prior, the four used one of the former rooms of the many wardens this place once had. Once they all had entered, Harry removed a roll of parchment from the inside of his cloak. Unfolding it on the floor it revealed an array of runes. Harry put his hand in the middle and activated it, producing a dozen of different snakes, which he ordered to locate the five wardens.

"Why didn't you simply use the _Serpensortia _spell?", Dave asked while he watched the snakes move out.

"_Serpensortia _summons a snake from anywhere of the world, and not every snakes goal in life is to do my bidding, just because I can talk to them somehow. With the runes however I am able to summon exactly my snakes, which I raised to do tracking jobs for me."

They didn't have to wait long for their return. It seemed that two of the wardens were patrolling. One two floors above them and the other one below. The other three seemed to be playing poker at the entrance of the prison. Discipline wasn't evident in this prison, but Harry couldn't fault them for that. Working and living at this island must feel like a torture. Harry might have murdered the prisoners himself so the place could be closed already.

"One of the wardens is two floors above us, you two will take out that one while Sue and I will take the one below us. After that we will meet up again to get the three at the entrance."

The warden never stood a chance. How could he. The prisoners were no threat to him, there was no way for them to get out of their cells and there was no reason for anyone to come to this godforsaken island. He was taken completely unaware when he was surrounded by a flock of crows stealing his sight and every possibility of spotting his attackers. The first and last thing he saw was a red light and then he succumbed to a peaceful slumber.

"Let's put him somewhere safe, where he will survive the next few hours."

With that done they headed to their meeting point.

Dave and Augustus were already waiting for them. Together they made their way to the room where the three remaining wardens were enjoying their night. Dave kicked the door open and the other three shot spells into the room. Two of the wardens were able to hide behind a desk in the back of the room, the third however wasn't so lucky, and it seemed as if Rookwood didn't intend to make prisoners today. Rookwood's cutting curse hit the warden directly in the neck, killing him and spraying a red cloud on the yellowed wall. This was the Augustus Rookwood that served under two dark Lords during his lifetime. A monster, in his very own right. The wardens were now firing without any plan of attack controlled by the fear of ending like their comrade.

"So, how are we getting the last two now, since you and your little girlfriend failed to hit your intended targets? They could fend us of for hours now, oh great and fearless leader.", Rookwood was smug at hitting his target while Harry did not and he would never let go a chance at riling Harry up.

"Just because yours jumped in front your spell doesn't makes you any better here.", Harry retorted with a snort.

Susan could only gape at them. They just killed someone and were currently under fire and these two had nothing better to do than having a childish argument. Thankfully Dave stopped them.

"I think we should begin to make a plan before the reinforcements come."

"Ah, don't worry Dave, the reinforcements will have to come by boats, the wards won't allow any other way of travel, so we have a few hours. But we really should get these two out of the way now, their shouts are getting annoying. I think it's time for a well used S_erpensortia _now."

As he said, Harry quickly summoned two Cobras.

"Somehow I can never get anything else, through it should actually be possible to summon all kinds of snakes. Well, as long as they get there work done they're alright, I suppose."

Susan stared incredulous as she actually heard sadness in his voice. He gets two poisonous snakes and he isn't satisfied. Taking control of the snakes minds he commanded them to quietly approach the now somewhat calmed targets. The moment the snakes got within striking distance they readied themselves to strike. The shock of seeing two potentially poisonous snakes made the wardens throw any caution to the wind as they fled for cover. Augustus and Harry wouldn't let them get away though. Augustus hit one with a killing curse in the back in a no nonsense manner, while Harry conjured a rope from his wand that wrapped itself around the warden's neck. The warden now kneeling in front of Harry tried desperately to get some air while looking pleadingly for mercy. The mercy Harry had for him however wasn't the one he wanted through. Instead of letting his victim suffocate slowly, Harry pulled the rope back into his wand with incredible force which resulted in his head rolling on the ground, cut off by the rope.

Turning around he was greeted by the sight of Susan emptying her stomach on the wall. It wasn't unexpected, as this was her first time seeing a person not only dying but being murdered. Harry had confidence in her though; Susan was strong and with a bit experience she would become as skilled as her aunt Amelia. It was a shame that they didn't work out, but while they may share the same goal, they were too different. Susan was too a gentle soul so they could ever be happy together. She was his partner he could always confide in; he could share everything with her and she would never betray him. She even talked her aunt out of becoming minister on his orders.

Gellert Grindelwald was located in a different place to the normal prisoners. It seemed complete isolation of any other living being was a part of his sentence. Harry had to wonder what Augustus meant when he said his old master was just a bit exhausted during his visit. To live up here with nothing to do and no one to talk to must have made the man mad. This weak old man sitting before him was once a man people feared so much, they only talked in whispers about him. This shadow of a man had terrorised the whole of magical Europe.

"You are back Augustus, just as you told me, but I would like to know what kind of man would come here with children to make me an offer?"

Grindelwald's gaze drifted to Dave, mustering him. In this moment Harry took a step closer, pulling the old man's attention onto himself.

"Ah, you misunderstand Gellert, it is me, one of the children, who is here to offer you something."

"Why should I even talk to an arrogant little brat like you? Do you even know who I am boy? Do you know of the things I did?"

Harry answered his try at cowing him with a chuckle. "Who you are? Of course I do. You are the one behind the bars. And more importantly, I am the one with the power to free you, so I think there is more reason for you to talk to me than for me to talk to you. You can give me what I want, and you gain a bit of freedom, before you die. Oh yes Gellert, I know of your imminent death. Two years is how long you still have. Whether you live them in freedom or here is your own decision. But don't forget, a chance like this won't come again. Now Gellert, do you now know why you should talk to me? The arrogant brat who_ holds your life in his hands_?"

That got the old man to thinking. The boy might not have been older than sixteen, but there was no lie in what he said. And someone who threatened your life in such a way, should be considered. And freedom, he would love to leave this room.

"What do you expect of me then? What could make an old man like me useful to you?"

"As Dumbledore surely has told you in one of his visits, yes I also know of his visits, money can get you far in the German ministry, we have this Dark Lord on our hands. A Dark Lord who doesn't has the decency to die when he is hit with an Avada Kedavra. Since he's in my way and I don't know of a way to get rid of him I thought about employing the only other one with knowledge of the Dark Arts like him. Everything I need you to do is swear an unbreakable vow to me that you will serve me."

"An unbreakable vow? Why should I do this? I would only be your slave, there is no freedom in that."

"You should see it only as insurance that you don't sell me out. And that you hold up your end of the bargain. Surely you can understand the importance of this insurance if you consider who you are? I need to be sure you won't become a hindrance to me. But I am a very generous person, you see. I prefer it if people work for me because they want to, not because they have no other choice. Right now, there's a fine cooked meal waiting for us at Dave's house and a comfortable bed for you so you can regain your strength. You will be free to go where you want after that, as long as you find a way for me to kill Tom Riddle, and maybe some other little favours. A small price to pay for freedom, I think."

There wasn't much to consider for Grindelwald. Living in his cell, staring at the wall, his mind spinning due to the fact that his death was crawling closer with every day or getting a bit of freedom on his last days. And this boy seemed to be planing something which would cause Albus some trouble. It could be enjoyable.

"A vow then, with certain limitations of course, I won't be seen jumping on one leg at the whim of a child."

"I think we can come to an accord there. How about you get us one of the other prisoners to take Gellert's place here, Augustus? And you prepare to leave them all free Dave, while Sue and I get the vow done. And tomorrow in the newspapers, there will be a nice story how the prisoners caused a riot, let a fire and the notorious Gellert Grindelwald couldn't escape it."

It must have been a funny sight, how the group of five stood there, in the middle of nowhere, seemingly waiting for nothing. They stood on several rolls of parchment, which were stopped from flying away by their weight on them.

"So, can anyone tell me why standing on the shore of Nurmengard, a couple of rolls of parchment under our feet, counts as an escape plan?"

"We're waiting for our summon, in exactly ten minutes and eight seconds you will feel some kind of pull and you will answer it. Do not resist it or you will be left back. It will be like apparition, somehow."

"You are aware that the wards block any known means of magical travel. Care to share how this is going to work?"

"Well, what we will doing isn't one of these known means of magical travel. We won't apparate through the wards, we will apparate around it. The drop of blood Rookwood took from you during his visit will be used by Dave's wife in a rune array similar to the one under us. From there it will build a connection to the blood in our veins and kind of jump over to the array beneath us. Apparition splits your body apart into small particles, so you can travel directly to your destination through everything in your path. Your soul however remains complete and that's why wards are able to stop us. As it wouldn't be advisable to split your soul apart in the same manner, we have no way to go through them. Muggle scientists have, for a long time now, had the theory that there are different dimensions, apart from ours. And wizards have proven this to be true with the charms they use to expand space in their pockets and whatever. The rune array beneath us will open a rift to such an parallel dimension, one which is empty of life, and we will travel through that. As soon as we reach the array at Dave's home, we will enter our dimension again where we will arrive as if we apparated. And you don't even need a wand, as the runes do it for us. It's a shame that wizards don't care for how magic works, they will never know what the limitations of their abilities are. Just think what we will be able to do, if we use magic to it's fullest extent and then use it together with muggle technology. The possibilities would be endless, the things we would be able to achieve!"

There was much for Grindelwald to think about as he waited for there departure. This boy seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. With the right people around him and the necessary resources he might go far. It seemed the time he had still left, could become an interesting one.

Some minutes later the five disappeared and the rolls of parchment were blown to the sea. They left without any indication that they ever were there.

Author notes:

Hello guys,

First, special thanks go to my beta Hollie-whyte. Than thanks to the nice reviews, while I write for my own enjoyment it's encouraging to know there are some people who like to read it. Through, one said Harry is stupid for sharing his powers. I'd like to make it clear that Harry won't be the kind of guy who runs head first through a wall in this story, he's more of a thinker, using the recources he can aquire to their fullest extent and allies fall under that categorie. And to the BWL thing, since I never was a fan of the whole prophecy thing, it won't matter much in this story. Harry's not going to defeat Riddle because some woman said so before he was even born.

Cid777

I don't own Harry Potter.


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